cover memo

writing

research

technology

My cover memo describes my journey that I took throughout the course of Writing, Research, and Technology with Professor Kopp. Throughout this course, we had many projects and assignments that dealt with writing by using technology; a different form of writing that everyone may not be used to. We had to blog, create a twitterive, tweet found and original maxims, create a video mash-up, and converse using YouTube with our group members. Each assignment required the use of technology and some social media websites in order to complete them. I created a prezi that overviews my journey that I took through out this course and my feelings towards each one.

Blogging:﻿Blogging allowed us to read articles and then comment on our classmate's blogs. We have taken Introduction to Writing Arts which required us to blog also so I was already familiar with this. I created a Microsoft Word Comments Log to keep track of all my comments on other's blogs and also the two blogs I created. This assignment deepened my thoughts and understanding of the article's I read that related to the assignments we were going to complete. Before these classes, I never blogged before in my life. Now that I have done it and am more experienced, I have a lot of fun reading them and replying back. Blogging is kind of like keeping a diary or a journal that everyone can see and they can give you feedback. I used to keep a diary when I was younger. It was a way of keeping my thoughts together. I would write daily. I wrote about what happened during my day that I liked and things that I was mad about. This was my younger self blogging.﻿

Twitterive:The Twitterive is a story of tweets from Twitter. We were told to tweet something that was happening during the weekend and create it into a narrative. This part of the assignment was easy because I have used this type of technology and social media before for fun on my own. This is another form of writing that is like a journal or diary. You are writing in less than 140 characters something that is going on around you or something you want to tell everyone. This digital technology was more fun to create. I first got a Twitter my freshman year of college in 2011. I had no clue how to use it, what a tweet was, or why people even used it in the first place. Once I got started, I realized that people were just saying whatever was on their mind. It was their way of talking to someone, but just talking to over a hundred people (if that's how many followers you have.)

YouTube Conversations:This assignment required us to each select a video that provided controversy to technology. Each group member (3) received a role for each video. At first, this was extremely hard because we couldn't keep track of our roles for each video. We switched by accident so we had to start back from the beginning. We all sat down together to finish it in one sitting. Once we did this, we were on a role. We worked well together to create arguments about the technologies presented in the videos. Before this class, I only used YouTube to watch music videos or something recreational. I never used it as a means of an assignment. Videos online is a form of writing because, visually by media, it represents what would be stated on a piece of paper. The information provided in them would be the same that could be written in the textbook, but in digital form making it easier. In high school, I would use my camera in order to take videos of myself and my friends having fun together. At family parties, we would also take videos. Other than recreational purposes, I never used videos or YouTube.

Video Mash-Up:﻿This part was the hardest assignment to be completed for me. I did not have a Mac to do it. I had to use my roommates so I could only use it when she wasn't using it. We were asked to create a mash-up of videos, audio, still-images, and texts. Using all of these, we would create a new video of our own exploring a topic of argumentation. I chose child beauty pageants. I chose this because my major is Early Childhood Education and this topic deals with children being shown in provocative ways that should not be allowed. This project allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone. I didn't understand how to use iMovie let alone the Mac. I figured out how to cut and edit pieces in order to make it fit my video. I learned how to edit the volume and transition to other videos and images. This form of technology is the same as the YouTube Conversations basically. It is using videos to express thoughts and opinions like writing would do. This assignment allowed me to watch informal forums and to watch highly visual and auditory mediums. I have never created videos before, but now that I do, I can easily make them to show how I feel and what I want to let the world know in this form of digital media.

My Future use with digital media

As an Early Childhood Education major, learning about technology and the use of different forms of writing is an important skill to learn. Learning about different mediums helps prepare me for the future. It is important to be aware of different writing mediums in order to teach the younger generations. Technology is integrating into our world faster and faster. We are relying on technology in order to do many things now. SmartBoards, computers, iPads are important technologies to incorporate into lessons. SmartBoards are easy for children to see the big screen and it allows them to interact which makes learning more fun. Computers help them individually learn. iPads are the same. There are many applications on them that are useful in the classroom to help them learn. YouTube is an easy way to show them a concept that one may not easily demonstrate in person. Videos on the SmartBoard make learning more interactive. I can also keep using Twitter to talk and communicate with other educational leaders in the world. They may help me with ideas to incorporate in my classroom. I can also use inform others about different uses of technology and writing that I will use in my classroom.